"Everybody's Tolkien At Me."

The 39th Annual Mythopoeic Convention, otherwise known as MYTHCON XXXIX, will take place in New Britain at Central Connecticut State University from August 15-18.

What is Mythopoeic? It's a monicker given to fiction writing that encompasses myth and fantasy (think Tolkien or C.S Lewis) and this convention attracts fans, students and intellectuals.

The title given to this year's gathering is "The Valkyrie and the Goddess: The Warrior Women in Fantasy" and will feature guest speakers Professor Marjorie Burns and author Sharan Newman. Professor Burns, who teaches courses on Tolkien as well as Celtic and Norse mythology, has written extensively about the author of "The Ring Trilogy." Newman is the author of the Catherine Levendeur mysteries and a series of books about Guinevere, wine of King Arthur and lover of Sir Lancelot.

There will be scholarly papers and plenty of fun (including a rock band known as The Lord of the Ringos.) Needless to say, if you're a bit curious,go to www.mythsoc.org/mythcon39.html and check out the convention.